Weekly Roundup: A Wedding, Exhibitions and Celebrations

May 18 to May 24, 2019

On Friday last week, the new mayors (sort of, whatever Vorsteher exactly means in English, it's literally a "presider") of the municipalities of Liechtenstein took their oath at the government building. Afterwards, they were received by Hereditary Prince Alois for a meeting at Schloss Vaduz though no pictures seem to be available.

Screenshot via Hello

On Saturday, Prince Philipp and Princess Isabelle attended the wedding of Lady Gabriella Windsor and Tom Kingston at Windsor Castle. The bride is a daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and thus a member of the extended British royal family. 

Photo: IKR

On Monday, the Liechtenstein embassy in Vienna together with the Art Museum Liechtenstein and the Hilti Foundation hosted a reception for the Austrian art scene at the Albertina, where parts of the Princely Collection of the House of Liechtenstein is currently on display to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Principality. Prince Constantin and Princess Maria-Pia, who is the Liechtenstein ambassador to Austria, were on hand for the occasion. More information at Vaterland.

Photo: Marktgemeinde Maria Enzersdorf

A day later, Prince Constantin attended another event to mark the 300th anniversary of the Principality. At Burg Liechtenstein, the family's ancestral seat south of Vienna, he opened a new treasure chamber which also includes a replica of the Ducal Hat of Liechtenstein.

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli

Meanwhile in Luxembourg, Grand Duke Henri received Chief Raoni Metuktire for an audience on Monday. He is a chief of the Kayapo people, a Brazilian Indigenous group from the plain lands of the Mato Grosso and Pará in Brazil. Chief Raoni is internationally famous as a living symbol of the fight for the preservation of the Amazon rainforest and indigenous culture and is currently on a tour of Europe to fight for his causes.

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli

Later that same day, Grand Duke Henri, who was joined by Princess Alexandra, hosted a reception for Luxembourg's highest ranking diplomats who had travelled back to the Grand Duchy for the annual diplomatic conference. More pictures at the cour.

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli

On Wednesday, Princess Alexandra made on of her few solo appearances of the year as she attended a conference to celebrate 100 years of woman suffrage in the Grand Duchy. More visuals of the event at the cour.

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Sophie Margue

That same day in Paris, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, joined by Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie and Prince Louis, opened the  4th edition of the exhibition "Révélations" at the Grand Palais. Luxembourg is this year's country of honour of the exhibition featuring the work of over 400 artists, craftsmen, designers, and manufacturers. The Hereditary Grand Duke and Hereditary Grand Duchess are the patrons of the Luxembourgish exhibitions of "Révélations". More photos.

Photo: L'Est Republicain

Also on Wednesday, Archduke Carl-Christian, husband of Luxembourg's Princess Marie-Astrid, paid a visit to Bar-le-Duc, a town in the north-east of France once part of the old Duchy of Lorraine. Archduke Carl-Christian's grandmother, Empress Zita, used the title of Duchess of Bar for official documents. A day earlier, he had participated in a conference in nearby Nancy though I haven't yet found any more details about that. More about the visit to Bar-le-Duc at L'Est Republicain.

Weekly Roundup: Two Baptisms of sorts and credentials.

This week it is double weekly roundup! I apologize for missing last week's roundup post. I just bought a new house, and the process was very time consuming (and stressful).

On December 12, the Grand Duke started off the week by receiving the credentials of the new ambassadors of Switzerland, Iceland, Kazakhstan, and Estonia.

Cour Grand-Ducale

The same day the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess sent a telegram of condolence and solidarity to President Macron after the tragic attack in nearby Strasbourg.

The Grand Duke stayed busy the next day by receiving the members of the new Chambre des Deputes.

Cour grand-ducale/Claude Piscitelli

Later the same evening the Grand Duke and Princess Alexandra attended the Christmas Gala of the SOS Villages d'Enfants Monde. The gala included a performance by the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, which is under the patronage of the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess. Princess Alexandra had the honour of baptizing a new E Flat bell that belongs to the orchestra. 

Cour grand-ducale/Marion Dessard

The Hereditary Grand Duke and Duchess wrapped up the week by awarding prizes at the end of the biennial De Main De Maîtres.

Cour grand-ducale/Claude Piscitelli

In other family news, Archduchess Juliana of Austria was christened. The young archduchess is the third daughter for Archduke Imre and Archduchess Kathleen. The baptism took place in Combloux, Haute-Savoie, Switzerland. The godparents are Archduchess Marie-Christine and Fr. Will Conquer. Photos of the event and a lengthy interview with Archduchess Kathleen appear in the recent Pointe de Vue. 

Anne du Castel

In Liechtenstein news, to help celebrate 300 years of of the Liechtenstein a chocolatier from the principality has created an anniversary tin with treats inside. Prince Hans-Adam received the first box from representatives of Hoi-Laden Vaduz. The bronze box features all 12 of Liechtenstein's reigning princes. It was also noted that next year more about the history of the family and the reigning princes will be made available online at the website of the princely family.

Tatjana Schnalgzer

Prince Constantin was named to the Austrian Council for Sustainable Development. The goal is to help strive and aid in the implementation of UN agenda 2030 for sustainable development. The council was formed during the summer and is already working toward their goal. 

Everyone here at Luxarazzi would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We hope that the new year brings you many blessings.

Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation Receives Award

BMLFUW

Prince Constantin received Austria's National Award for Exemplary Forest Management 2017 and the first ever State Prize for Best Climate Forest Management (Staatspreis für beispielhafte Waldbewirtschaftung) on behalf of the Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation. The national prize is given annually by the Ministry of Environment.

The Foundation cultivates 3,150 hectares of forest in the region. The Hohenau areas were acquired in 1457. One of the reasons for the award was the Foundation's strong commitment to nature conservation. Additionally, the forest contains a "remarkable" distribution of deciduous tree species with just 11 percent of the forest being coniferous. The forest also has a well managed an important set of flood planes.

Prince Constantin and Princess Tatjana at Liechtenstein Reception in Vienna

Photo: IKR

Liechtenstein's ambassador to Austria, Princess Maria-Pia, hosted the traditional Liechtenstein reception at the Gartenpalais in Vienna in mid-September. Among its guests were Prime Minister Adrian Hasler as well as Prince Constantin and his sister Princess Tatjana. The Principality and its eastern neighbour share numerous diplomatic and contractual ties. So it's entirely possible that other Austria-based members of the Princely Family were also present for the event.

Constantin at Football Is More Conference

Photo: Liverpool Echo

Prince Constantin, earlier this week, participated in the sixth CSR Forum of the Football Is More Foundation in Switzerland. Around 150 representatives of football clubs, non-governmental organisations, associations, foundations, companies, politics and universities from all over the world came together at the conferencce to discuss the facetious wealth of corporate social responsibility and social commitment. 

Prince Constantin, who is the patron of the Football Is More Foundation, also took part in the "Role Model Awards & Gala Dinner 2017" at which he was pictured with Prof. Denise Barrett-Baxendale (middle) who was honoured for her work in the foundation “Everton in the community”.

More from the Liverpool Echo.

The Prince and His Treasures: TV Documentary

Photo: Screenshot 3sat

Yesterday, German TV showed an Austrian documentary about the art collection of the Princely Family. The video is available here. In case you understand German (or simply admire looking at art and architecture), she documentary is a must. Entitled "The Prince and His Treasures: Hans Adam of Liechtenstein", it features interviews with Fürst Hans-Adam II, Hereditary Prince Alois, Prince Constantin and his wife Princess Marie about the family's art collection and other ventures.

The documentary includes many interesting tidbits about the Princely Collection of the House of Liechtenstein. It is revealed how the family managed to smuggle art out of Nazi-occupied Austria (they simply put name tags of lesser known artists on them and the German border guards didn't notice), that they invest 800,000 euros every year into the restoration of art works and that Prince Hans-Adam himself likes to collect bronze statues as they are very easy to keep and don't require specific lighting or temperatures. The documentary also gives a glimpse into the art cellars below Schloss Vaduz - have fun watching it!

Tons of Pictures of the Liechtensteins at the Vatican

Photos: L'Osservatore Romano 

Ever cared to look at almost 1.400 pictures of the Princely Family of Liechtenstein attending one single event? Now is the chance of your lifetime! L'Osservatore Romano offers a gallery of visuals of Saturday's visit to the Pope by Prince Hans-Adam and some 36 of his closest relatives containing more than enough pictures to fullfill your wishes. In case you need to brush up on your knowledge of the less regular Liechtenstein faces here at Luxarazzi, we have them all conveniently identified for your here.

Princely Family Meets the Pope: Name That Liechtenstein

It's a good day in Luxarazzi Land as some 34 members of the Princely family unexpectedly joined Fürst Hans-Adam II and Fürstin Marie as well as Hereditary Prince Alois and Hereditary Princess Sophie for a visit to the Vatican to meet Pope Francis. Of course our Who's Who section is always there for you when it comes to identify lesser known members of both the Liechtenstein and Luxembourg families but we thought we would give you a proper rundown of all the surviving descendants of Prince Franz Josef II and Princess Gina who were in attendance. (Spoiler: It's everyone but the three younger children of Hereditary Prince Alois and Hereditary Princess Sophie.)

Photo: L'Osservatore Romana

Quick tip before we start: Click on the picture to enlarge and get a proper look at everyone's faces. And with that, we are off starting from the left: Princess Maria-Anunciata, Princess Margaretha, Prince Nikolaus, Anna von Lattorff, Camilla von Lattorff, Marie von Lattorff, Elisabeth von Lattorff, Lukas von Lattorff, Philipp von Lattorff, Maximilian von Lattorff, Sophie von Lattorff, Princess Tatjana, Prince Alfonso, Princess Angela, Prince Max, Prince Wenzel, The Princess Marie, The Prince Hans-Adam, Pope Francis.

Let's take a quick breather and start with everyone on the right of Pope Francis in the picture: Hereditary Prince Alois, Hereditary Princess Sophie, Prince Constantin, Princess Marie, Prince Moritz, Princess Georgina, Prince Benedikt, Prince Philipp, Princess Isabelle, Prince Alexander, Princess Astrid, Princess Theodora, Prince Wenzeslaus, Prince Rudolf with Princess Laetitia, Princess Tılsım with Prince Karl Ludwig, Prince Josef, Princess Marie-Astrid, Princess Nora and Teresa Sartorius.

Liechtenstein Reception in Vienna

Photo: Peter Kubelka

On Friday night, Prince Constantin and his cousin Princess Maria-Pia, the Principality's ambassador to Austria and the Czech Republic, attended a reception hosted by the Liechtenstein government in Vienna. There are pictured together with Prime Minister Adrian Hasler and his Deputy Thomas Zwiefelhofer as well as the Austrian minister of finance at the Gartenpalais above.

Princess Marie Participates in Sommelier Competition

Photo: Oest France / ouest-france.fr

Also on the Princess Marie (wife of Prince Constantin) front, she was recently present at an international competition that awarded the best young sommelier in the world. The event, organized by Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, was held in Vaduz. Sixteen competitors were required to demonstrate their skills in uncorking a bottle of champagne and decanting a fine red wine, as well as taste testing and pairing foods with wine. Competitors representing the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia held the top three spots at the end of the competition.

More from Ouest France.

Princess Marie Promotes Liechtenstein Wines in Hong Kong

Photo: Harbour Times / harbourtimes.com

In this case, Princess Marie is the wife of Prince Constantin, and one of those responsible for marketing the wines of Liechtenstein's princely family. She was recently in Hong Kong to promote the royal cellar's vintages at a private wine tasting and dinner. While there she also spoke about how the wine business works alongside the banking business and how she wants to bring an element of "fun" to the princely family's business image.

More from Billionaire.com and Harbour Times.

Princely Family Continues Fight for Inherited Land in Czech Republic

The Princely Family of Liechtenstein - or rather the Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation - has filed an appeal with the highest administrative court in the Czech Republic concerning the inheritance of 600-hectare plots of land near Říčany located about 20 kilometres from the centre of Prague. About four years ago the Princely Family learned that Prince Franz Josef II was still registered as the owner of almost 100 plots of land near Říčany, and so they applied for inheritance. A district court approved their claim and the plots were subsequently transferred to the Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation in the land register.

When the Czech state became aware of the transferal of land, they filed a lawsuit against the Foundation as they believed it to be unlawful based on the Beneš Decrees, which dispossessed Germans - everyone who spoke German was considered German - and Hungarians off their properties following the Second World War except for those who themselves suffered under the Nazis. Both the first and second instance decided in favour of the Czech state. 

Prince Constantin, in his capacity as head of the Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation, now clearified, "This is not a restitution procedure as we haven't made restitution claims. These proceedings are about us being the owners of land according to the land register and a confiscatory complaint claiming these plots by the Czech state." The youngest son of Prince Hans-Adam II and Princess Marie eleborated that the Foundation has also brought evidence before the court that Prince Franz Josef II has never declared himself a German though they do not intend to file lawsuits about the land the family was dispossessed of during the 20th century.

The Office for Government Representation in Property Affairs of the Czech Republic argues that the Foundation could not inherit the property that the state confiscated before and that the fact that Prince Franz Josef II was still the registered owner of the land until 2013 was merely an oversight by the officials. They did not elaborate why it was possible for the Foundation to apply and be granted inheritance of the land in 2013.

Liechtenstein's National Day In Depth

Photo: Daniel Schwendener / Liechtensteiner Vaterland / Vaterland.li

How time flies! It's already August 16 and thus it was national day in Liechtenstein yesterday. After the short version of our coverage earlier on, here's more than you need to know and see all cramped into one informative post.

Who attended? The Prince Hans-Adam II and the Princess Marie; the Hereditary Prince Alois and the Hereditary Princess Sophie with Prince Wenzel, Princess Marie-Caroline, Prince Nikolaus and Prince Georg; Prince Constantin and Princess Marie with Prince Moritz, Princess Georgina and Prince Benedikt; (I think) Camilla von Lattorff, daughter of Princess Tatjana; Prince Nikolaus and Princess Margaretha; Prince Michael with Princess Thera and Princess Gisela. Quite likely also: Prince Stefan and Princess Maria Pia.

Photo: Daniel Schwendener / Liechtensteiner Vaterland / Vaterland.li

What happened? There was the ceremony on the castle meadow, the reception in the gardens of Schloss Vaduz, lots of interviews, mingling with the regular folks at the fair and, of course, the fireworks. Venture over to this Luxarazzi 101 to read all about the historical background of the Staatsfeiertag.

What did the Hereditary Prince say in his speech? That Liechtenstein is in a good place looking at the current political situation including Brexit, refugee crisis et al. Large parts of his speech also dealt with the topic of an upcoming referendum about the financing of child care in the Principality. For his full speech, have a look here.

Where to look for pictures? Vaterland #1, Vaterland #2, Volksblatt #1, Volksblatt #2 and Getty Images.

Where can I see videos? 1 FL TV got you covered. They have a video of the Hereditary Prince's speech, a video with footage of the day's events including interviews with the Fürst and the Hereditary Prince as well as a video from the rose gardens including interviews with Hereditary Princess Sophie and Prince Nikolaus. Reports can also be found at ORF and TVO.

What else? Stay tuned! Our friend Arjan - who you can also find on Twitter - was in Vaduz for national day and he'll share his experiences with us in the coming days.

Marie Promotes Wines in Czech Republic

Photo: iLuxus.cz

If you are in the Czech Republic and you happen to like to drink wines from the wine cellars of the Prince of Liechtenstein, Alcohol.cz is the place for you. The website has started to sell wines of the Hofkellerei des Fürsten von Liechtenstein, which is run by the Prince of Liechtentein Foundation. Princess Marie was on hand to mark the occasion at an event in Prague. The wife of Prince Constantin has been involved in promoting Liechtenstein wines for a few years now.

The princely family owns two vineyards. Their 40 hectare Austrian vineyard has been owned by the family for more than 600 years and produces Gruner Veltliner, Zweigelt, Merlot, Riesling and Traminer. Their Liechtenstein vineyard produces only Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Even though their tiny 4 hectare Liechtenstein vineyard only produces 10,000 bottles a year it may be one of the most expensive vineyards in the world. Property within the principality averages 8,200 Euro (10,463 USD) per square meter! That means that the 4 hectare vineyard is worth a staggering 82,800,000 Euro (105,654,488 USD) - or so we wrote almost two years ago.

More information at iluxus.cz.

Princess Tatjana at Liechtenstein Reception in Vienna

Photo: Peter Kube

On Thursday last week, Liechtenstein ambassador to Austria, Princess Maria-Pia, hosted the traditional Liechtenstein reception at the Gartenpalais in Vienna. Among its guests were Prime Minister Adrian Hasler as well as Princess Tatjana, only daughter of Prince Hans-Adam (both pictured above). The Principality and its eastern neighbour share numerous diplomatic and contractual ties. It's rather likely that other Austria-based members of the Princely Family, such as Prince Constantin and Princess Marie, were also present for the event.

Princess Marie Presents Princely Wine Estate

Photo: ORF

Princess Marie, as in the wife of Prince Constantin, recently gave an interview to Austrian TV station ORF about the wines and wine growing estates of the Princely Family. She also showed the camera around the family's four hectare large vineyard in Liechtenstein as well as their restaurant Torkel. To watch the interview, have a look at ORF.

(At Least) 7 Liechtenstein Royals at Concert in Vienna

Photo: Österreichisches Rotes Kreuz

And another one for the "Better late than never"-category: In her capacity as President of the Liechtenstein Red Cross Hereditary Princess Sophie hosted a charity concert together with the President of the Austrian Red Cross on May 28 at the Stadtpalais in Vienna. She was joined by quite an array of relatives for the event also including a dinner afterwards: her husband Hereditary Prince Alois, her mother-in-law Princess Marie, her brother-in-law Prince Constantin and his wife Princess Marie, her uncle-in-law Prince Nikolaus, as well as Philipp von Lattorff, husband of her sister-in-law Princess Tatjana. The money raised was used for a joined project of the Austrian and Liechtenstein branches of the Red Cross to help people in Eastern Ukraine.

More pictures on the website of the Austrian Red Cross.

Award for Princely Wine

Photo: ZVG / Volksblatt

Sometimes I feel that I'm becoming a little wine expert - well, very little wine expert - by writing this blog alone: This time, it's about the princely wines again. Each year, Austria's best wines are judged in a blind tasting at the SALON Österreich wine competition. Afterwards, the Austrian Wine Marketing Board, or Österreich Wein Marketing (ÖWM), announces the best wines of each category. Among the winners this year was the "Amato" of the Fürstliche Hofkellerei wine cellars. On hand to receive the award was Princess Marie, wife of Prince Constantin.

Princess Marie at Fête Imperiale

A Marie von und zu Liechtenstein was among the guests for the Fête Imperiale held at the Winter Riding School of the Spanish Riding School located at the Hofburg in Vienna. Celebrating its 450th anniversary, the stunning Winter Riding School, where the famous Lippizaner horses usually give their performances, was transformed into a ballroom for a night. While the news reports don't specify which Princess Marie of Liechtenstein was among the guests (and I haven't been able to locate a picture of her), I assume it was the wife of Prince Constantin as she has attended the event before.

Prince Hans-Adam: "All My Sons Are Sensible. Much More Than I Am."

Photo: Nicola Pitaro / Schweiz am Sonntag

Prince Hans-Adam has given an interview to Swiss Sunday newspaper Schweiz am Sonntag, which was published this weekend. In it, he talks about why the monarchy has such a great support in Liechtenstein's population, that he believes that monarchy will have a renaissance in these uncertain and changing times, and that his sons are much more sensible than he ever was attesting them diplomatic skills he does not have himself. The full interview is available here. It also mentions that Prince Hans-Adam recently attended an alumni event by his alma mater University of St. Gallen.